Lawyer sentenced in insider trading case

NEW YORK — Manhattan lawyer Brien Santarlas, 34, was sentenced to six months behind bars and two years of probation Wednesday after telling a judge he made a “profound mistake” by providing inside tips on confidential Wall Street deals.

Santarlas was charged in what federal prosecutors have called one of the largest insider trading cases in history.

When first confronted by the FBI in 2009, Santarlas immediately agreed to wear a wire to record conversations with another corrupt lawyer in his firm — a decision the defense argued had earned him a probation-only sentence.